[ 2021-03-17 ]

Brussels to propose Covid certificate to allow EU-wide travel

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Brussels is to propose the creation of a Covid-19
certificate to allow EU citizens to travel inside
the bloc after a push by tourism-reliant countries
devastated by the pandemic.

The European Commission will on Wednesday call for
a “digital green certificate” to be created
that would allow vaccinated and non-vaccinated
citizens to travel to other member states and not
be forced to quarantine on arrival.

The certificate would be granted to citizens who
had either proof of vaccination, a negative
Covid-19 test, or proof of recovery from the virus
for those who had contracted it previously,
according to a leaked draft seen by the Financial
Times. 

Countries in the bloc have been at loggerheads
over plans for an EU vaccine “passport”, with
nations led by France arguing that such measures
would discriminate against citizens who are last
in line for jabs. Tourism-reliant member states
such as Greece have led the push for a common
framework to facilitate travel ahead of the
lucrative summer season. 

Brussels’ officials have stressed the
certificate would not be a “passport” but a
common system to help governments co-ordinate
travel measures as vaccination programmes are
rolled out across the bloc.

Governments have also been divided over which
vaccines should be eligible after countries such
as Hungary have allowed the use of Russian and
Chinese jabs before they have been formally
approved by EU regulators. 

The commission’s draft text says all vaccines
approved by the European Medicines Agency should
be automatically recognised by other member states
under the certificate. But governments would also
have the power to recognise jabs such as
Russia’s Sputnik vaccine as valid if they so
wished.

Source - FT, UK

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